Design Cultures

The programme in a nutshell

Master's Arts & Culture
Design Cultures is a programme of the Master’s Arts & Culture. We also run a programme that specializes in the cross-overs between art and media, called Comparative Arts and Media Studies. The MA is part of the Graduate School of Humanities at the VU University Amsterdam.  

The programme Design Cultures is a one-year, full-time, English-taught study which is worth 60 credits. Though the programme is built around a core set of obligatory courses, students will have ample opportunity to define their own individual tracks by means of electives, internships and, of course, the Master’s thesis. 

Core courses (30 EC) 
The programme is built around four main courses: Design, History and Culture; Methods of Design Analysis: The Meanings of Design; The Arts and Crafts of “Dutch” Design; Design in Words: Criticism, Writing & Theory.

Individual scope (12 EC) 
You can customize your study by selecting subjects from a range of interdisciplinary electives (see below for a list of options). Internships offer you opportunities to prepare for your professional career.

Thesis (18 EC) 
The programme culminates in the Master’s thesis, which gives you a chance to demonstrate your research skills, your competence as a critic, and your ability to systematically gather, select and interpret information and to argue a case in an independent, objective and responsible manner. Students are offered opportunities for practice-based research accompanied by written reports.

Click here for an overview of how the year is structured.

Main courses

The first semester consists of two introductory courses on the history and theory of design:

Design, History and Culture paints a thematic and chronological overview of the history of design. It traces the main international movements and historical debates on the basis of case studies that place past developments in a modern perspective.

Methods of Design Analysis: The Meanings of Design considers design from different methodological angles – design as a process of production, distribution, representation and consumption – with specific attention to the complexities of meaning and interpretation in an economic, social and technological context.

In the second semester students get acquainted with "Dutch" Design and learn to write critical appraisals:

The Arts and Crafts of “Dutch” Design deals with the origins and development of Dutch Design, a worldfamous name, synonymous with graphic, fashion, product and interior design in the Netherlands. The course casts a critical eye on the role of “being Dutch” as invented by designers, labels, critics and the government.

Design in Words: Criticism, Writing & Theory trains you to look critically at primary and secondary discourses on design and to write critical appraisals. At the end of this course you will be able to evaluate design and write and assess critiques.  

Individual scope
You can customize your studies by selecting subjects from a range of interdisciplinary electives. Find our suggestions below, and please note that some of them have limited places available.

We are open to other suggestions as long as the course belongs to a MA course.

• Trans-Media Storytelling;  Period 1+2+3 (9 points)
• Reading Concepts of Intermediality;  Period 1+2+3 (9 points)
• Seminar Architecture;  Period 1+2+3 (9 points, limited availability)
• Crossmedial Exhibitions;  Period 4 (6 points, limited availability)
• Trajectory Global and Local, Global Changes;  Period 1 (6 points)
• Academic English: Grammar;  Period 1 (3 points)
• Academic English: Writing 1;  Period 1 (3 points)
• Literature Visualized; Period 1 (6 points, limited availability)
• Trajectory Culture and Power; Period 1 (6 points)
• Culture and Identity in Organizations; Period 2 (6 points, limited availability)
• Migrations and Circulations; Period 2 + 3 (9 points)
• Ethnicity and Nationalism; Period 2 (6 points) 

Thesis (18 EC)
The programme culminates in the Master’s thesis, which gives you a chance to demonstrate your research skills, your competence as a critic, and your ability to systematically gather, select and interpret information and to argue a case in an independent, objective and responsible manner. Students are offered opportunities for practice-based research accompanied by written reports. More information about the thesis can be found in the Thesis Manual.

For more information please see the study guide.   
For more information about the Bachelor’s programme, please see the Bachelor programme ACW (in Dutch).